At Last
by Liz the Laugh
Summary: It was the day he woke up to Lily in noting but her knickers, smiling and laughing at him that he realized he wouldn't mind it too terribly much if that sort of thing happened every day. And James hated himself for thinking that. It was like incest! Yet..
1. Kissing Dogs

Okay everyone…go easy on me…this is my first story. It gets better, trust me. But please, please review and give me some feedback! It would mean the world to me…I'm in desperate need of 2nd and 3rd and 4th opinions! And, I don't own anything that can get me sued. Well that's about it…and on with the show!  
  
"Ah, Sirius, here's one." Mumbled James Potter as he and his best friend, Sirius Black sat at the bar of the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
"Spotted." Replied Sirius. "I'd say muggleborn, no wizard family at all, and…yes, she has a sister, and…wait…it's either a dog or a pig…I can't tell. Well, she has a pet, that's all I can say. And both her parents are alive, dad's a banker, mum's a housewife. Typical."  
  
"You're getting better." Commented James.  
  
"Stop it," said Sirius playfully, "You're flattering me."  
  
"Shut up, here she comes." James stuck his friend in the ribs with his elbow.  
  
"Ah, hello." Said James sliding off his stool to meet their prank target.  
  
"I'm James Potter, first year at Hogwarts and this is my friend Sirius Black, first year also." James stuck out his hand and grinned his most charming grin.  
  
The girl shook his hand and replied, "Lily Evans, first year." Sirius stuck out his hand also. Lily shook it.  
  
"Nice to meet you both, but I've got some things to do…" the girl was digging around in her bag, flustered, obviously looking for something.  
  
"Oh, shit." James raised and eyebrow to Sirius. He got his meaning—this girl was strange.  
  
"Uh," Sirius spoke up for the first time "You seem to be missing something, perhaps your supply list." Lily stopped in her search and looked up.  
  
"Yes, I have. Do you two happen to know where I can get another?"  
  
"Actually," said James, "We have our lists and need to do our shopping, care to join us?"  
  
"Yea, yea, that'd be good." Lily busily shoved papers back into her small purse. James wondered if she had put a charm on her bag. She seemed to be stuffing in way more papers than it looked capable of.  
  
"But first I need to exchange some money."  
  
"And we need to get some money from our vaults." Said Sirius. And with that, James, Sirius, and Lily set off for a day of shopping.  
  
Thirty minutes later they emerged from Gringotts, pockets jingling with the little pieces. "Where to first?" asked James Lily could hardly make up her mind, all the shops looked so interesting. She finally decided on the bookstore, Flourish and Blotts. After getting all their required course books, Lily went about picking up 'spare time books'  
  
"Lilee" said Sirius for the hundredth time, "There is no 'spare time' at Hogwarts…"  
  
"Nonsense." Lily stated matter-of-factly. "We get off weekends and holidays, right?"  
  
"Yes, we do, but.."  
  
"Ah. See, we do have spare time."  
  
"What Sirius is trying to say is we spend all our spare time doing homework and stuff." "Homework has never stood in my way of having fun." Lily said this so seriously and with just the right expression that James and Sirius broke out into fits of laughter.  
  
"What's so funny?" demanded Lily.  
  
"You've got the general idea right, it's just…" James had another laughing fit Meanwhile, Sirius was banging his fists against a book shelf with tears streaming down his face. James managed to choke out the rest of the sentence.  
  
"It's just that your idea of fun is reading "Hogwarts: A History" and "A muggle-born's Guide to Wizard Lingo" He grabbed three books off the shelf and said, "Wait, you missed a few, and I bet you sure do need them!" James started laughing again but stopped when he no longer heard Sirius's chuckles.  
  
"What?" said James.  
  
"I thought you were going to be my friend, but I guess I was wrong." Lily walked up to James and whacked him with one of the books she had been holding. With that, she walked to the counter, paid, and left.  
  
"You've stooped low James, but that was your all-time low."  
  
"What?" James asked again. What had he done wrong?  
  
"Look at the books." James turned the books around and looked at the covers. They read: "Wanna snog, but 'cha look like a Dog: A beginner's Guide to Kissing", "Witch Weekly's 101 Most Memorable Beauty Tips", and if that wasn't enough, "The Art of Stripping: What every Woman Wants to know but never Asked."  
  
"Oh, shit." Muttered James  
  
"Oh, shit's right," Sirius replied "I don't think she'll ever forgive you for that. And we didn't even get to play the prank!"  
  
Tell me what you think. If you like it, I'll post more, if you don't, I won't. Simple. Thanks. 


	2. Chocolate rabbits, Wands, and Vague Rema...

When she first laid eyes on him she knew he was trouble. Her gut was always right and her gut had told her, 'Don't talk to this guy!' But being the idiot she was, she went against her gut instinct and joined them getting supplies. At first it had been okay, but what happened at Flourish and Blotts was horrible! How could he be so cruel? 'He deserved what he got. Hope it makes a nice bruise, black and blue preferably.' Lily thought wickedly, chuckling all the while.  
  
"Stop it." She told herself. "You need to get control of yourself." She then opened her purse, dug around some and came out with what she was looking for—her supply list.  
  
"Wonder why I couldn't find it before." She muttered to herself.  
  
'Because you didn't want to, remember.' Said a little voice in her head.  
  
"Shut up." She said aloud. The little voice went away. She was good at controlling that pesky voice. It could be so annoying sometimes! She proceeded to go about with the rest of her shopping. She got her robes, an owl some potion ingredients, quills, and some ink in 8 colors.  
  
Finally she went to get her wand. For this important item she chose to go to Olivander's. When she walked in it appeared to be deserted. One very old looking wooden chair sat in the middle of the room with the back facing her. She walked around and sat in it, waiting patiently. Patience—it was a gift she was blessed with. She could wait for hours if need be. And when it came to revenge, years. Lily heard the door open behind her and two boys bickering.  
  
"Shut up James."  
  
"Why don't you, you know it didn't mean to spill my shake on you."  
  
"Why, then did you pour it on my lap?"  
  
"You poured it on mine first!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
"Did too!"  
  
"Did not!"  
  
Lily stood up and turned around. Sirius and James were both looking like chocolate Easter rabbits, coated in a think layer of chocolate shake. They looked up. She sat back down in the chair. An old man entered the room.  
  
"Hello." He said in a mysterious voice "I am Mr. Olivander. You must need wands."  
  
"Yes." They all answered at once.  
  
"Well, then, I can take you three all at once. Now where did I put my measuring tape? Oh, just try this." He handed Lily a wand of willow with a unicorn tail hair. She waved it around—nothing happened. Mr. Olivander was busy helping Sirius, so she decided to look for her wand herself. Something seemed to be calling her to it. A hypnotic melody seemed to be leading her to a shelf in the back. She grabbed a step-stool and tried to reach it. She wasn't quite tall enough. So Lily decided to climb on the shelves themselves. She was almost there… "Got it!" she said. At that moment, the shelf started to fall backwards onto her. James had been watching and quickly took action. He ran over, grabbed her off the shelf, and got them both out of the way just before the shelf came tumbling down. Mr. Olivander was furious with Lily for trying to climb the shelf, but after she explained why she was climbing it, his attitude changed completely.  
  
"That's only the 2nd time in the history of this shop that the wand has called for the wizard, or in your case, witch. Go ahead, give it a wave." Just like before, Lily waved the wand in the air. But this time something happened—gold and silver sparks flew out and floated around the room. Then, suddenly, they popped, spraying the all with miniature lilies.  
  
"Nice," Applauded Mr. Olivander, "Very nice."  
  
Sirius, who was watching clapped. "You'll never forget when you got your wand." James gave him a weird look  
  
"What," Sirius shot back before James had a chance to say anything. "My dad says it all the time." "Sirius, you're right, I'll never forget this." Lily stopped the fight before it began.  
  
In the meantime, James had been trying out wands. All of a sudden, Lily was floating in midair amongst red and gold sparks. She slowly drifted down from the ceiling like a feather, landing comfortable in the chair.  
  
"Excellent!" Exclaimed Mr. Olivander "Truly remarkable." He applauded once more. Sirius was howling with laughter.  
  
"Did you see the look on her face?!!" He asked James.  
  
"No, I was too busy trying to make her fall."  
  
"That's not funny," said Lily, "I could have been hurt!"  
  
"But," interrupted Mr. Olivander, "That was amazing. Never before." He started going about finding a wand for Sirius.  
  
"What?" asked James interested.  
  
"Well…" he began, "It is an old legend that those who's wands call to them are very, very powerful and either extremely evil--the next dark lord--or extremely good and pure. I hope both of you are the second one."  
  
"No need to worry about me, Mr. Olivander." Lily said cheerfully, "It's James you'll have to watch out for."  
  
"Yes, she's right, you know." James said shocking everyone. "She's too weak a witch to be a dark lord. Limited powers, you see." He said in a mock whisper "Now I'm a powerful enough chap you'll have to keep an eye on me."  
  
"Ha. Ha." Lily said dryly. "But, James's wand didn't call for him, did it?" she asked.  
  
"The wand calls for the wizard or witch in several different ways. There's the way yours called you, with an enchanting melody and to James by making him very preoccupied the entire day, as if he had forgotten to do something. The key thing, though, is that he got it on his own."  
  
"How did you know I heard music?" Lily asked "I only told you it seemed to be calling me." "Yea." Said James and Sirius together.  
  
"How did you know I'd been feeling like there was something I'd forgotten to do?" asked James. "All there's left to do is to get you a wand, Mr. Black. Mr. Potter, Miss Evans, that will be 20 galleons, each."  
  
"How did you know my name?" Lily questioned Mr. Olivander as she was paying for her wand. "You will see…eventually." Was his only response. Lily walked out of the little shop followed by James who was off to look around Zonko's while Sirius was getting his wand.  
  
After the little bell on the door stopped ringing, Mr. Olivander made another strange, vague comment to himself or Sirius, Sirius never knew.  
  
"The bond between those two is strong, even before…" His voice trailed off into inaudible whispers that even Sirius—who had hearing as good as a dog's—couldn't make out what he said.  
  
"Another one of life's great mysteries." Sirius muttered to himself as he came out of the shop, turning right to meet his friend at Zonko's. 


	3. Surfer Dudes and Sortings

Another chapter! Pretty much the whole story is already written, I just have to type it all! (and it's about fifty pages long!) So wish my poor fingers luck! One—no two requests. Read the song—DON'T SKIP OVER IT! It took me a very long time to write. I had to listen to my CD and actually copy down the original lyrics word by word for everything to fit. (why I didn't get the lyrics off the internet I'll never know…) And…review. Thanks.  
  
Lily sat on the train in an empty compartment reading a book. She had looked for Sirius, but she couldn't see him anywhere. A tall girl with shoulder length brown hair walked in.  
  
"Hello." She said politely, "Do you mind if I sit in here with you?"  
  
"No, come on in." Lily said, "What's your name?"  
  
"Monica Butler, and you?"  
  
"Lily Evans"  
  
"Pleased to meet you." They both said at the same time, which caused them to start laughing.  
  
"So what house do you want to be in?" Lily asked Monica.  
  
"Well," Monica answered, "My whole family has either been in Ravencalw—my dad's side—or Hufflepuff—my mum's side."  
  
"So you want one of those?" Lily asked feeling her heart sink. She wanted to be in Gryffindor. "Actually—no. I want to be in Gryffindor."  
  
"Me too!" Lily screamed excitedly.  
  
They were too busy laughing to notice another girl come in. She was considerably shorter than Monica but only a bit shorter than Lily. She had blonde hair in tight spiral curls a little past her shoulders. Her face was bright and cheery; her cheeks very pink. She was a little on the plump side but it just made her appearance all the merrier.  
  
"Hi," she said warmly, "I'm Suzie Blair. Do you mind if I sit with you two?"  
  
"Oh, no, not at all." Monica said.  
  
"Come sit down—I'm Lily Evans by the way."  
  
"And I'm Monica Butler." The girls spent the rest of the ride talking about their lives before Hogwarts.  
  
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"OOH!" The girls said as they got their first sight of Hogwarts. "It's beautiful!" Lily said in awe. "Yea." Both Suzie and Monica agreed. They all just sat there open mouthed, gaping until Hagrid ushered them all out of the boat and into the castle. They were herded into a great hall—which they later found out was appropriately called the Great Hall. The three girls stood there in front of all the students, still as statues. (or at least muggle statues) A witch of about 50 came into the hall carrying a stool and a hat. She set it down and the hat opened a wide rip in its side like a mouth and began to sing…  
  
(to the tune of "Love Potion #9")  
  
If you don't know me, I'm the hat that sorts  
  
No wrestlin' trolls or writin' reports  
  
All I gotta do is look into your mind  
  
No secrets are safe cause…  
  
It's sorting time  
  
Just tell me where you'd like to make your friends  
  
Spend your free time and play games on weekends  
  
I'll look into your heart and see where qualities lie  
  
Tell ya where you go cause…  
  
It's sorting time  
  
So sit down and put me on and give me some think  
  
I might even know you house before you can blink  
  
Be calm and joke around or give your fancies a wink  
  
Don't hold your breath or close your eyes  
  
You only think  
  
It doesn't matter if it's day or night  
  
You'll love your house—they're all outta sight  
  
All there's left to do is look into your mind  
  
No secrets are safe cause…  
  
It's sorting time  
  
Sorting time  
  
Sorting time  
  
Sorting time  
  
When the singing finished the hall erupted in cheers. The first years ever lost their glazed looks for a moment. Then the witch began to call names.  
  
Adams, Trish----RAVENCLAW  
  
The girl practically ran to the table and jumped into a seat, blushing furiously.  
  
Black, Sirius! The hat was on his head for all of two seconds when—GRYFFINDOR! He got up, joined his hands together in a fist and waved them about his head in triumph.  
  
Blair, Suzie---GRYFFINDOR  
  
Butler, Monica---GRYFFINDOR  
  
Dogitt, Geraldine---HUFFLEPUFF  
  
Evans, Lily  
  
Lily walked up to the stool, visible shaking, face white as a sheet. She reached the stool, sat down, and let the hat slip down over her eyes. Suddenly a voice started whispering to her "Hmmm…you have every quality for every house…you're a special one. The one Dumbledore told me about." "Well, if it's any help," Lily thought, "I'd like to be in Gryffindor with my friends."  
  
"Yes, yes. Gryffindor is the place for you. You should meet your true love in that house." "Really?!" Lily asked, "Who?!!"  
  
"Ah-eh-a… not telling. But you're a bright girl…you'll figure it out. GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled before Lily could say anything else.  
  
She ran up to the table and sat next to Suzie and Monica across from Sirius. He had his fingers in his mouth whistling. Suzie and Monica were all smiles.  
  
"We thought you weren't going to get into Gryffindor. The hat was on your head for like five minutes!"  
  
"Oh, he knew I was a Gryffindor, we were just chatting about my future." They stared.  
  
Lupin, Remus  
  
Remus walked forward.  
  
"Watch him." Sirius whispered. "Hope for Gryffindor. He's cool."  
  
"Okay." Whispered Lily. She crossed her fingers.  
  
GRYFFINDOR!  
  
As the boy made his way to the table Sirius stood up and made a sign with his hand (three middle fingers down, pinkie and thumb up) "KNARLEY DUDE!" Sirius said with a surfer accent. "Yea, STOKED!" Remus said putting on a surfer impression to rival Sirius's. Remus, tall and tanned, seemed to fit the surfer profile more accurately than Sirius. They all settled down quickly to see the rest of the sorting.  
  
Martin, Sylvia---SLYTHERIN  
  
Pettigrew, Peter---GRYFFINDOR  
  
Potter, James  
  
'Please not Gryffindor…Please not Gryffindor' Lily chanted to herself  
  
GRYFFINDOR.  
  
Lily groaned. 


	4. BlahBlahBlah

Okay…I don't own Venus or Serena Williams. I just named a couple characters after them, k? And I know they are sisters, but this Venus and Serena are cousins…how else could I make them in the same year without being twins?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
"Potter, James!"  
  
He had been waiting for what seemed like a century to hear that. He walked up to the stool as calmly as he could and put the hat on.  
  
"You're the one, yes, definitely the one he told me about."  
  
"What one?" James asked, "Who told you about?"  
  
"Dumbeldore."  
  
"Dumbeldore told you something about me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"What?" James questioned again, interested.  
  
"All I can tell you is that you will help create something very, very special and important to magic—and man—kind." The hat said "And, you will find your perfect match there too." He added as an afterthought.  
  
"Alright then, what about my house?"  
  
"Oh, that, well I knew the second I touched your head! You're courageous, faithful, loving, cunning, bright, clever—you've got it all. But your thirst for adventure makes you a—GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
He was relieved; what was all that about anyway? James made his way to the Gryffindor table. Sirius got up and high-fived him. He took a seat next to Sirius.  
  
"What took so long?" asked Sirius.  
  
"Oh," James answered, "Nothing much. Only Dumbedore told the hat something about my future and he was giving me hints."  
  
They stared. Lily went a light shade of green, but luckily no one noticed.  
  
"Tell us later, okay." Remus told James.  
  
"Yup! You thought I'd keep it a secret?! I'll tell you right now. The hat said I—"  
  
But Lily never heard what James said. His words were cut off by cheers when Smith, Cody, already one of the most popular boys from a wizarding neighbourhood was made a Ravenclaw.  
  
"Sampson, Cooper!" A tall, very pretty black girl walked up to the stool and was proclaimed a Gryffindor.  
  
"Thomas, Mackenzie!" HUFFLEPUFF!  
  
"Trigg, Derek!" SLYTHERIN!  
  
"Williams, Serena!" Another tall, slim black girl approached the sorting hat. GRYFFINDOR!  
  
"Williams, Venus!" A very similar, but not identical, girl strode up to the hat. She was made a Gryfindor too. She sat next to Serena who turned out to be her cousin.  
  
'Six Gryffindor girls to choose from. One for each year plus that hot Ravenclaw!' Thought James, Sirius, and Remus  
  
'Six Gryffindor girls' thought Lily, 'What a crowded dorm. But I'm sure we'll have fun. Cooper, Venus, and Serena look like they know where the party's at!' Their thoughts were interrupted when Dumbeldore stood up to make his usual start-of-term announcements.  
  
All Lily heard was "Blah…Blah…Blah." But, then maybe that was because that's what Dumbeldore was actually saying. He looked in Lily's direction and caught her eye. He winked.  
  
Then he said: "Now, enough said! We'll sing our song and eat!" He waved his wand and words floated in the air. Everyone started to sing.  
  
James, Sirius, and Remus sang to the tune of "The Howdy Doody Show", a television program.  
  
Finally the song finished. Dumbeldore clapped his hands and…BANG! The tables were covered with delicious smelling food.  
  
They had everything from casseroles to fried chicken. Lily helped herself to the baked chicken—it was her favourite.  
  
Meanwhile, James loaded his plate with steak and kidney pudding. His mum was a vegetarian and made only vegetarian meals. Every time James visited somewhere he always ate his favourite meat dishes.  
  
'Now.' he thought happily, 'I can eat them every day!' The school ate their way through four courses—dessert by far the best. Lily reckoned she'd never tasted better vanilla pudding in her life. Finally the feast was drawing to a close.  
  
Dumbeldore stood up to make what they thought was another long speech, but they were mistaken. He said: "How about I save all the announcements for breakfast, aye. You are dismissed."  
  
Lily, Suzie, and Monica followed Sirius, James and Remus who seemed to know exactly where they were going. Or at least Sirius did. They would later hear of his summertime excursions with his father. Something to do with being able to add the Gryffindor common room fireplace to the floo network and showing Sirius a lot of secret passages.  
  
As soon as the stepped through the portrait hole Lily, who had almost fallen asleep in her pudding, was standing wide awake. The room was gorgeous. A massive fireplace seemed to be the focal point for the circular room. Lounge chairs, sofas, and little poufs were scattered about the room haphazardly. They were all different fabrics and styles, but everything seemed to come together. You got that sense it all belonged.  
  
There were also some round tables in a corner near the fire and bookshelves were all over with spare copies of course books; from 1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi to Advanced Defense Against Dark Magic. The only thing Lily could say was, "Hogwarts, where have you been all my life?"  
  
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Thanks to my reviewers:  
  
Spike's Girl…my very very very first reviewer! I'll never forget you, Spike's Girl!  
  
Gigi—yes, I worked hard making James believable. I want to portray a realistic James!  
  
Tessa Maise—thanks!  
  
Solid Gold Buddhist Raccoon—I'm glad you like it!! Cool stories!  
  
Hyper-Piper—thanks. I knew—or at least I hoped—you meant the 6 reviews thing that way  
  
the Angelic Andria—yes, the reviews are slowly, but surely increasing. One was enough for me, though! (but don't get me wrong… I LIVE for reviews! ::hint…hint:(  
  
Chibi-Chingo—I am going to email you right now to let you know of the update! I hope you like this chapter as much as the last one! 


	5. Moustaches and Beards

Okay. I tried to make this chapter big because this is the last time it will be updated in a while. I am going on holiday! I will return June 10, my birthday! And I can promise you another chapter on June 11! Enjoy this chapter. (I purposely made sure it was not a cliffie!)  
  
  
  
James's first thought was 'This is amazing; which chair's mine?'  
  
Despite their wish to stay in the common room and chat, the prefects herded them up to their separate dorms; boys on the right, girls on the left. (a/n I know it's the opposite, but I can have it any way I want!)  
  
"See you tomorrow Sirius, Remus…And James." Lily said. She had decided he wasn't that bad. It had to be an accident he picked up the books he did…right?  
  
Lily entered the dorm expecting the same wallpaper, same fabrics, same everything as the common room, but what she saw was… "White?"  
  
The girls stared for a minute until Lily let out a single hysterical laugh.  
  
"I got it," She said. "We have to decorate the room ourselves!"  
  
"Yea." Everyone agreed.  
  
"That bed's mine!" everyone frantically started claiming beds. Then after everyone was satisfied with their bed, they moved their trunks to what would be their home until the end of June.  
  
Lily got the bed by a desk and a wardrobe. Monica was on her right. There were two desks, each with three drawers. Suzie suggested everyone get their own drawer. It turned out to be a very good suggestion.  
  
After the general examining of the room was done, the girls decided to sit down and talk about how they wanted to decorate the room. Cooper took charge—she seemed to be a natural leader and was very secure with herself.  
  
"What I think," Cooper began "Is that the room should reflect each of our personalities. Maybe we could section off the wall space and paint our sections our favourite colour."  
  
"That's a good idea, Cooper." Monica agreed.  
  
"I'll go get a quill and parchment to write down our ideas." Lily said helpfully  
  
"So," Lily asked once she had returned with the parchment, "What's everyone's favourite colour?" "Red" Said Serena  
  
"Pink" said Cooper. They all looked at her. "What?" they went on.  
  
"Blue." Said Monica  
  
Suzie's favourite colour was green, Venus's was purple, and Lily's was yellow. They agreed for the circular rug in the middle of the room to be red with a Gryffindor lion in the middle. Finally after an hour's planning, they went to bed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The boys walked into the dorm only to see… "It's white." Sirius said as if everyone else was blind. "You're so observant, Sirius. I wouldn't have noticed had you not pointed that out," James said sarcastically.  
  
"But why?" asked Sirius, undaunted.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? We get to paint it ourselves—very clever idea in fact, bet it was Dumbeldore's." Said Remus.  
  
"Oh, ahhhh!" Said Sirius and James together. Just then a plump boy walked in.  
  
"Hi. I'm Peter Pettigrew, nice you meet you all." He said this all very nervously.  
  
"Why, hello, Peter!" Exclaimed Sirius.  
  
"Glad you meet 'cha, buddy, glad to meet 'cha!" James said while shaking his hand furiously.  
  
"Yes, welcome, welcome!" Remus added  
  
"You can be the first one to choose your bed. Which one do you want?"  
  
"Ummm… That one!" He sat on the bed closest to the door.  
  
"That's mine!" James said pointing to the one in the left corner.  
  
"I got the one next to James!" Said Sirius who ran and jumped on his bed, breaking some boards, causing his mattress to fall through to the floor.  
  
"Oomph!" He said, and then started laughing. Everyone started laughing.  
  
"And that leaves me with the bed by the bathroom and the wardrobe. What good company I'll have!" Remus said jokingly. He'd wanted that bed anyway. If he had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he wouldn't have to walk far. They all lay on their beds for some time before Sirius spoke.  
  
"What colour do you want to paint it?" He asked. "Red." Everyone answered together.  
  
"With gold lions." James added. They all agreed. And with that, they went to sleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning, Lily woke up rested and happy.  
  
At breakfast, she cheerful manor was only improved by the fact that she shared the same schedule with all of her friends. She started thinking of her room. 'How shall I decorate it?' she thought for a moment before Cooper tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Come on, it's time for Transfiguration."  
  
"Okay." Lily replied. She gathered up her things and followed Cooper, Venus, Serena, Monica, and Suzie to the first class of the day. When they arrived, they met the witch who helped with the sorting. After the usual "Welcome to my class, but beware" pep talk, Professor McGonagall separated the class into pairs to work on turning a match into a needle.  
  
As you might have guessed, James was paired with Lily. All her friends were partnered together except for Venus, who was partnered with Cody Smith. But she seemed very pleased with the pairings. On about his third attempt, James was successful in changing the match. Professor McGonagall was extremely happy with him and rewarded Gryffindor 5 house points.  
  
So while James sat there watching, Lily was still trying to transfigure her match. "Come on you stupid match!" she exclaimed while prodding it with her wand, "Change into a damn needle!" To her surprise, the match changed into a needle. "Ah!" she shirked in joy.  
  
"Professor, I changed mine too!" "Excellent—two students—that must be a record!" She said fondly. Lily had clearly won her over with her spunk. When she walked off to see what was the trouble with some Ravenclaw students, James started to talk—laugh more like it.  
  
"Change into a damn needle!" he said chuckling, "Never heard that one before. Let me try." He changed his needle back to a match and said, mimicking Lily perfectly, "Come on you stupid match! Change into a damn needle!" And to both their surprise, it changed. This caused them both to start laughing even harder than James had been before. After a while, Lily took out Quidditch Through The Ages and began reading.  
  
"So you like Quidditch?" James asked disbelievingly.  
  
"As a matter of fact, I do." Lily replied curtly. "Have you ever seen a game of Quidditch?" James asked.  
  
"No, I've only read about it. They history's quite interesting, you know."  
  
"Yea, yea. Very interesting. Like what?" he asked. In truth, James only knew all the rules and how to play. He was never much on history.  
  
"Well like…" Lily searched her brain for some interesting bit of information.  
  
"Here." She said handing him the book. "You can read it. This is my second time anyway.  
  
"Wow," James replied, "Thanks." Just as he was about to say something when Lily gasped, clapped a hand over her mouth, and brought out a medium sized notebook, which looked very battered. She scribbled a few words, read it again, and smiled. She shut the book and put it back in her bag. "What?" James asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing," Lily said obviously very happy about something, "I only just had the best idea I've ever had!!" She finished, beaming.  
  
"I know you're going to tell me even if I don't ask, but I'll ask anyway. What is this idea of yours that is so brilliant?" Lily laughed.  
  
"Well, is your room completely white?"  
  
"Yes, we are going to colour it this weekend."  
  
"Yes, us too, except we are going to design the room to all our personalities, get what I mean?" "Yes."  
  
"And I just had to most fantastic idea about how to decorate my part of the room!"  
  
"How?" James asked.  
  
"Handprints." Lily said simply. James racked his brain for how she was possible going to decorate her room with handprints. And then it clicked. Unintentionally his mouth curved into a smile.  
  
"I'm guessing that means you like my idea." Lily said.  
  
"Yes, it's great. So are me, Sirius, Remus, and Peter invited to put our handprints on the wall too?" "Yea, sure. Why not?" Lily said spontaneously. "But you haven't heard the best of it yet! Every year, at the start of the first term, everyone can put up their new handprint next to their old one to see how we grow up." Lily gave a small smile that more resembled a grimace, although the prospect of growing up was horrible.  
  
"Wow!" James said, "That's cool!"  
  
"Thank you." "So when are you going to colour your room?"  
  
"I dunno, I was thinking about Saturday, but I have to discuss it with my roommates first."  
  
"Yea." James agreed. "Look—" James told Lily, "I'm sorry about the book thing. I really didn't know what I was picking up."  
  
"It's okay." Lily, "I understand. And I'm sorry too." So once again, the two were friends. With nothing else to say, they sat in silence the rest of the lesson. Well, not really. James was reading "Quidditch Through the Ages", and Lily was busy reading "Hogwarts: A History", which to James looked like an immensely boring book that he would never tough. It was a nice silence though—happy and comfortable.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At dinner that day, Lily asked Suzie, Monica, Cooper, Venus, and Serena what they thought about her handprint idea. They all loved it, but it was decided that they would only be in her area so they weren't all spread out everywhere. Plus, they all had their own ideas about how they wanted their area.  
  
Suzie wanted her wall green with blue bubbles bloating on the walls. Her personality: bubbly. Monica wanted waves painted like the ocean. Her personality: soothing.  
  
Cooper wanted plain pink with lost of posters and pictures all over. Cooper's personality: clean and simple.  
  
Venus wanted purple flowers of all sorts decoupaged all over her wall. Her personality: natural. Serena wanted a giant Gryffindor Lion. Her personality: supportive.  
  
That weekend rolled around in what seemed like no time. Saturday morning was, in the girl's room at least, hectic. Lily had talked the girls into using real paint instead of magicing the walls.  
  
"It will me so much more fun!" Lily said enthusiastically.  
  
The first coat went on without any flaws, as did the second. Finally it was time for everyone to put their handprint on Lily's wall. The girls ushered the boys into the room—they didn't want to set suspicion on themselves, as they were planning a big prank.  
  
Everyone went at the wall at once to make it spontaneous. They all backed away and le out an "Awe." It looked fantastic.  
  
"Wicked!" James said.  
  
"Hold on guys—let me get my camera!" Lily shouted. She dug through her trunk staining everything from her pyjamas to her schoolbooks. At last she emerged with a camera and a tripod. Quickly she set it up and hurried into the picture.  
  
"Everyone say cheese!" Lily ordered. "We have 20 seconds!"  
  
"20, 19, 18…" They counted down together. Just as they were getting to 15, James reached out and drew a moustache on Lily's face with his painted hands.  
  
"JAMES!" Lily yelled. Thinking quickly, Lily took both her hands and grabbed James's face. If you had been there and not known Lily, you would have thought she was going to passionately kiss him, indeed, that was what James thought Lily was going to do and he let out a look of pure disgust. But clever Lily pulled her hands down until they met at his chin. As you might have guessed, James now had a fine beard.  
  
"LILY!" He screamed. Now they were down to five seconds.  
  
"Shh!" Lily said "Picture! Smile!"  
  
She threw her arm over James's shoulder making sure to get his clothes particularly painty. They must have been thinking along the same lines because at that exact moment, James threw his arm around Lily.  
  
"ONE!" They all shouted together  
  
"Cheese!" Everyone sang, their faces covered with wide, crazy smiles.  
  
Later in their years, they would sit down, look at Lily's photo books and talk about this picture. James decided there was only one way do describe it—pure happiness. It was present on everyone's face, even James Potter's and Lily Evans's, who were, not for the last time in their lives, happy in each other's arms. 


	6. Time, Memories, and Pledges

I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written! It's been a LONG time! I got back late from my trip. We were having so much fun we said, what the hell, let's stay a few extra days! So, we did! I am a year older and year wiser!! My piano has just been tuned, so I am in a great mood! (I just baked a cake spur-of-the-moment!) Now, about this chapter, I do no own the poem. It's one of those pass-it-on emails that I fell in love with. It is too cute to leave out! And once again, I don't own these characters! They're not mine! None of them! So…that's it! Enjoy!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
  
  
  
After the picture was taken, Lily proceeded to turn back to James and make lines on his cheeks like war paint. James, on the other hand, put a nice big "L" on her forehead.  
  
"For Lily." James said, seeing his friends laughing.  
  
"I'm going to go see how my paint looks in the mirror. Wanna come James?" Lily asked  
  
"Hell yea!"  
  
They both ran to the mirror above the sink and immediately started giggling.  
  
"James," Lily said in a whiney voice, "You got paint on my clothes!"  
  
James's response was "You know very well you did the exact same thing to my robes!"  
  
"Oh, yes, you're right." Lily agreed. The two giggled some more.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
And so their first year at Hogworts ended.  
  
Lily and James were naturally top in the class, tied exactly. Lily got top marks in Transfigurations, Potions, and Herbology. James got Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Astronomy.  
  
What made this odd was that each had top marks in the other's best subjects. But there was no mix-up; this can be easily explained. Trying to out-do Lily, James only studied Lily's best subjects. Trying to out-do James, Lily only studied James's best subjects.  
  
"What a great irony." Lily laughed on the ride home from Hogworts. James, on the other hand, was for the first time not joining in on the laugh.  
  
"I don't see what's so funny about it." He said.  
  
"Quit being so serious, leave that for Sirius. Okay…okay, I won't use that play on words again!" Lily said trying to cool Sirius down.  
  
"But, really, James! Grades and rankings…they're just grades and rankings! It's just their way of controlling us. As a level-headed, rule-breaking, rebel kind of Gryffindor guy, I'd think you would do whatever possible to undermine authority! So, let's do what we are fated to do, BREAK THE RULES THEY MAKE! So, James, and everyone else in this damn compartment, are you with me?!"  
  
By that time, everyone in the compartment (James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Suzie, Monica, Cooper, Venus, and Serena) was staring wide-eyed at Lily.  
  
"Uh…" James managed to get out.  
  
"Oh, you don't have to tell me. I got passionate again, didn't I."  
  
"Just a bit." Answered James. "But that was your best one yet, you should write it down."  
  
"Oh, no, it's all up here." Lily tapped her head and winked. They, Lily and James, and a way, aura if you wish, that whenever they started talking, everyone listened.  
  
"Hey," James said, "What are you all looking at, we're just talking here."  
  
"Oh, uh, right." Peter said. He turned to Monica who was sitting on the floor beside him, as there weren't enough seats.  
  
"Nice weather we're having!" He said with mock-seriousness.  
  
"Gorgeous!" Monica agreed, laughing. Sirius, Suzie, and Cooper began a game called 'Bet you can't' Lily and James had made up over the Easter holiday when they were both bored out of their minds. Neither liked to get their homework doe until the night before it was due.  
  
"The adrenaline rush adds and extra zing to my essays." Lily often said. The object of the game was to go in a circle and challenge people.  
  
For instance, when it was Sirius's turn, Suzie said, "Bet you can't stand on your head for three minutes!" Sirius had to do it, or else lick the bottom of his shoe. (Every week the "I can't" task changed; all were thought up by Lily and James.)  
  
Meanwhile, Remus, Venus, and Serena continued a discussion they had been having a couple nights ago in the library. Something about a muggle sport called tennis that both Venus and Serena were both very good at. (a/n no, they aren't the real Venus and Serena. I just added a couple characters with their names for fun!)  
  
So that left Lily and James to continue their conversation, which they did (Quite happily, I might add!) until the train pulled to a stop and they all went home to count the days until they would be together again.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
James was very happy. School was out and everyone was going to Lily's house for her birthday. Remus and Sirius came over, as they were all going together. Peter was walking with Serena and Venus, as they all lived pretty close to Lily. Suzy, Monica, and Cooper all found their separate ways. Oddly, everyone arrived at the same time, so when Lily answered the door expecting to find one person, she was pleasantly surprised to find everyone.  
  
"Happy Birthday Lily!" They all yelled together at the top of their lungs, causing a few neighbours to come out to see what the fuss was. Then James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter all broke out singing Happy Birthday with lots of dancing. Remus even started dancing with her—the cha-cha.  
  
The girls joined in as backup.  
  
It went something like this:  
  
Happy—oooh do-wop, do-wop—Birthday  
  
Ooh do-wop, do-wop—to you—do-wop—cha cha cha—do-wop!  
  
By the time the song was coming to a close, Lily, and almost everyone else was in tears from laughing so hard. For the grand finale, everyone fell down on one knee, spread their arms, and made the most spirited spirit fingers ever!  
  
Then snap!  
  
"Whazzdat?" Sirius asked stupidly, momentarily blinded by the flash of light.  
  
"A camera. You must be Sirius! You're acting just like Lily described you!" answered Lily's mother.  
  
"Yes, I'm Sirius—serious!" At this Sirius winked. He knew how to butter up to the grown-ups.  
  
"Let me guess who you all are!" Lily's mother said, excited to be meeting the children she'd heard so much about. (This is the part where I get to describe what everyone looks like!)  
  
"You're Cooper!" She said to Cooper "I love your braids! And your beads are lovely, where did you get them?"  
  
"Made them myself!" Cooper replied sweetly. She loved compliments.  
  
"And Venus! My, you are tall. Lily described your eyes perfectly; they are mahogany! Suzie, there is no mistaking you curls! Remus—yes, camel is definitely your hair colour! Serena, you must have the longest eyelashes I've ever seen! Peter, you do look oddly like an old classmate of Lily's. Monica, gorgeous skin! Olive is definite the colour! Now, at last, James—my, I've heard lots about you! She described you to the last freckle."  
  
"I don't have freckles!" James cut in.  
  
Everyone laughed.  
  
"Yea," Lily said, "And my hair is green!"  
  
"That can be arranged." James said jokingly.  
  
"As I was saying," Lily's mother continued, "She got you just right. Honey coloured eyes, cute—" James's ears perked up when she said 'cute'.  
  
"—puppy-dog like hair—"  
  
His ears went down—  
  
"and elfish ears." At this, everyone smiled. James's ears were always one of Lily's favourite ways of teasing him. But they were quite elfish, no one could deny. After the giggles died down, everyone went inside.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
We rejoin our friends six years later, aboard the Hogwarts Express on its way to Hogwarts.  
  
"It can only be described as one thing—pure happiness." James said.  
  
They were all piled into a compartment looking at a scrapbook Lily had put together of their Hogwarts days.  
  
"I know" Lily said, "Look at the title of the damn album!"  
  
James flipped to the front cover. Sure enough, in gold lettering it said, 'Pure Happiness Vol. 1: Friends at Hogwarts'  
  
Then under it in smaller letters, it read 'James, Lily, Suzie, Venus, Sirius, Cooper, Monica, Peter, Serena, and Remus'  
  
On the first page was the bow famous picture of them all in the girl's dormitory in the first year. There was also an exact replica of it for each following year. In each one, Lily has a moustache, James, a beard. Everyone stood in the same place each year.  
  
Time had passed, but it felt, to Lily at least, that the photo had just been taken yesterday.  
  
On the inside cover pasted in was a handwritten poem James has written for Lily the previous year after an argument. During breakfast one morning, he jumped up on the Gryffindor table and yelled for everybody's attention. (Which he got, as he usually gave excellent speeches!) And said:  
  
"Friends are the most important things in the world. One of mine, Lily, is angry with me for something very stupid I did. I would now like to apologize with a poem I wrote myself!  
  
My Friend:  
  
When you are sad, …I will get you drunk and help you plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.  
  
When you are blue, …I'll try to dislodge whatever is choking you.  
  
When you smile, …I'll know you finally got laid.  
  
When you are scared, …I will rag you about it every chance I get.  
  
When you are worried, …I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be and tell you to quit whining.  
  
When you are confused, …I will use little words to explain it to your dumb ass.  
  
When you are sick, …stay away from me until you're well again. I don't want whatever you have.  
  
When you fall, …I will point and laugh at your clumsy ass.  
  
This is my oath, …I pledge till the end. Why you may ask—because you are my friend!  
  
So now I ask you, Lily, will you also pledge until the end? That's when Lily too hopped up on the table, gave James a giant bear hug and announced to the Great Hall, "Everyone, there is no need to fear my wrath anymore; I am happy again! I PLEDGE UNTIL THE END!"  
  
Review please 


	7. Rankings and

My apologies for the delay of this chapter. The troubles with ff.net and an out-of-town wedding are responsible for the wait. So don't blame me! Please review.I haven't gotten any in a very long time! Please! Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email me at liz_the_laugh1337@hotmail.com  
  
"Good times." James sighed.  
  
"Yup." Lily agreed. After they finished looking at the scrapbook, James cleared his throat to make an announcement.  
  
"I'm sad to inform you that I, James Potter, am this year's head boy." Gasps were heard throughout the compartment, but only one was real-Lily's.  
  
"Uh.James, you don't happen to know who the head girl is, do you?"  
  
"No." Lily paused after that.  
  
"Well who is it, then?" James asked, curious.  
  
"Me." James let out a great laugh and then grabbed Lily and proceeded to waltz with her around the compartment.  
  
"You know what this means, don't you Lily?"  
  
'Oh, God,' Lily thought, 'He's dancing with me! He's dancing with me!' But Lily collected herself and said,  
  
"No."  
  
"Let me quote you, shall I, "BREAK THE RULES THEY MAKE!" By that time, James has stopped dancing and was holding Lily by the shoulders, looking at her mischievously. Lily mentally kicked herself back into reality.  
  
"Yea!" she exclaimed. I was bright for a first year, don't you think?"  
  
"Naw." James began, "I was smarter."  
  
"I'm just going to let that one roll off me."  
  
They discussed various other things-Suzie's budding romance with Frank Longbottom namely. The discussion seemed to end with Suzy leaving to go get Frank who joined them in a game of "Bet you can't". In what seemed like a second, they were pulling into Hogsmeade Station, in the carriages, watching the sorting, eating, and climbing the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. Lily showed the excited first years to their dorm while James told them stories of the violent spirits that reside in the Shrieking Shack. Finally the 10 friends sat down in the common room.  
  
"So." Lily started. "When do you all want to do the handprints?"  
  
"Tomorrow." Cooper said, "It's Saturday tomorrow."  
  
"Yes, that's right." Lily answered, "I'm so out of it lately." James laughed as she purposely banged her head against a table holding a vase. This caused the vase to fall and Serena to dive to catch it.  
  
"AAAHH!!" Lily jumped up in frustration, but as she was jumping up and down, she tripped and lost her balance causing her to fall straight on her bottom.  
  
"Could I get any klutzier?!" She asked, looking up at the ceiling. Just as James opened his mouth, she pointed her finger in his direction massaging her temple with the other and said, "Don't answer that."  
  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
  
The next day, everyone trooped up to the girl's dorm to put the final set of handprints on the wall.  
  
This year the color was blue. After they made the prints on the wall, it was time to take the picture.  
  
"Damn." Lily cursed, "I forgot to get out the camera. for the 7th damn year! Couldn't one of you have reminded me? You all know how forgetful I am!"  
  
"Quit whining, Lily. I'll get the camera."  
  
"Okay." Lily said happily as James made his way toward her trunk.  
  
"That's so nice of you." Lily complimented.  
  
"No, it's not." Sirius said, "All he wants to do is see your bra size."  
  
"Ha. Ha. Ha. .Sure Sirius." James laughed. He was busy doing something else.something concerning Lily's favourite pair of pyjamas.  
  
"Ah, ha!" He exclaimed, "Got it!" James quickly set it up and put on the timer. Lily drew the classic beard on James, and James drew a handsome moustache on Lily. 5.4.3.2.1.. * Flash *!  
  
The rest of the day, was spent in many different ways by each different member of their group. (A.N. They are not called the "Marauders" Think about it: The Marauder explorer's map. They aren't the marauders, the map is used by marauders.)  
  
But Lily and James chose to spend the day playing "I bet you can't". Bad choice. By the end of the day, Lily had done everything James asked and visa versa. This was bad because at this very moment they are sitting in Professor McGonagall's office.  
  
"I can't believe it! I don't want to believe it!" McGonagall said, raising her voice with each word.  
  
"Lily-tripping poor Professor Kettleburn when he only has one leg! And James, you are not.as Miss Evans so.indelicately put it, a man whore. So I suggest you both clean that off the wall in the Great Hall. But before you start the damage control, tell me, what inspired the two of you to do these things?" Professor McGonagall asked.  
  
"Uhh. It's a game, Professor." Lily answered  
  
"A game? Tell me all about it." She ordered.  
  
"James," Lily said, "You can do the honours."  
  
"Sure. Well, Professor," James said flirtatiously, flashing her a smile to rival Alexander the Great's. In Lily's opinion, though, nothing could rival James's smile.except maybe his elfish ears.  
  
"It's called 'I bet you can't'. I'm sure that tells you a lot already. All you do is challenge someone and they do what you say or they have to do the week's 'I can't'."  
  
"I see." Professor McGonagall said, "From this day forth, the game "I bet you can't" is banned from Hogwarts School. Clean up the slanders about James and you both may go back to the tower. Good day."  
  
From there, Lily and James made their way to the Great Hall where they began scrubbing "James Potter is a man whore" off the wall in back of the staff table.  
  
"Ha!" Lily laughed, "McGonagall let us off easy this time!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" James replied, upset, "We can't play "I bet you can't" at Hogwarts anymore!"  
  
"Well," Lily replied, "You're right about that, but we can play "Or face the consequence."" She smiled mischievously.  
  
"Hmmm." James said dramatically, "I like it! You're really clever Lily, you know that?"  
  
"I know, I know." 


	8. Parties, Karaoke, and Thoughts

Alright, I don't own Harry Potter, heffulumps and woozles, The Sound of Music, Animal Crackers in my Soup, Shirley Temple, Beethoven, Fur Elise, the Monkees, I'm a Believer, Shake, rattle, and roll, Lonely Teardrops, Hound Dog, Chocolat, You Can't Hurry Love, Adventures in Babysitting, or anything else that I didn't come up with! (Duh!) This is one of my favourite chapters, as it contains one of my favourite songs. I hope you like it as much as I do!  
  
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~  
  
That night the 10 friends had a get-together in the girl's dormitory, as it was the cleaner of the two rooms. At their once a month parties they all got in their pyjamas, played games and hung out.  
  
Lily chose her favourite p.j.s-flannel with little blue bows and pink flowers. Unlike Cooper and Monica who both got in their newest, most expensive, and sexiest clothes, she went for comfort! But she was glad Cooper and Monica wore their p.j.s. It was always funny to see Sirius get tongue-tied like he'd seen heffulumps and woozles.  
  
After a rousing "Or face the consequence" game (in which they found out Lily had both a pig and a dog for pets) they decided to sing some karaoke! But with a twist! Everyone else decided what song you were going to sing, and what you were going to wear.  
  
Cooper had to sing "I am 16 going on 17" from the musical "The Sound of Music" while she ran around the circular room jumping from bed to bed.  
  
Suzie had to sing "Animal Crackers in My Soup" like Shirley Temple while tap dancing in a very short pink, puffy dress. The boys particularly enjoyed her performance.  
  
Venus was forced to wear a wig and pretend to be Beethoven while playing Fur Elise.  
  
Serena and Remus sang a duet-Happy Birthday. And to everyone's dismay, in their birthday suits. Well, nearly. A few well-placed leaves made their performance PG-13 rated.  
  
Sirius was Davy from the Monkees and sang "I'm a Believer" while tapping a tambourine on his hip.  
  
Monica sang "Shake Rattle and Roll" in a chef's hat and apron.  
  
Peter sang a hilarious rendition of "Lonely Teardrops" in which he danced around the room with a pillow.  
  
And James sang the great Elvis classic "Hound Dog" (Think: priest in Chocolat) He was actually really good. Last was Lily. She sang.  
  
~~~~  
  
I need love, love  
  
To ease my mind  
  
I need to find, find someone to call mine  
  
But mama said  
  
You can't hurry love.  
  
~~~~  
  
Lily began by grabbing her hairbrush and using it as a microphone. She shook her hips exaggeratedly to the music and sand passionately. Her singing in general was only so-so, but this was particularly good. After a bit, Lily got too passionate for the rug they declared the stage, and hopped on her bed throwing down the hairbrush, now using a post from her bed for a microphone (think Adventures in Babysitting, Chris Columbus's second-best picture)  
  
~~~~  
  
But how many heartaches  
  
Must I stand before I find a love  
  
To let me live again  
  
Right now the only thing  
  
That keeps me hangin' on  
  
When I feel my strength, yeah  
  
It's almost gone  
  
I remember mama said:  
  
You can't hurry love  
  
No, you just have to wait  
  
She said love don't come easy  
  
It's a game of give and take  
  
How long must I wait  
  
How much more can I take  
  
Before loneliness will cause my heart  
  
Heart to break?  
  
No I can't bear to live my life alone  
  
I grow impatient for a love to call my own  
  
But when I feel that I, I can't go on  
  
These precious words keeps me hangin' on  
  
I remember mama said:  
  
You can't hurry love  
  
No, you just have to wait  
  
She said love don't come easy  
  
It's a game of give and take  
  
You can't hurry love  
  
No, you just have to wait  
  
She said trust, give it time  
  
No matter how long it takes  
  
No, love, love, don't come easy  
  
But I keep on waiting  
  
Anticipating for that soft voice  
  
To talk to me at night  
  
For some tender arms  
  
To hold me tight  
  
I keep waiting  
  
I keep on waiting  
  
But it ain't easy  
  
It ain't easy  
  
But mama said:  
  
You can't hurry love  
  
No, you just have to wait  
  
She said to trust, give it time  
  
No matter how long it takes  
  
You can't hurry love.  
  
~~~~  
  
Everyone was shocked by Lily's soulful rendition the classic. The prominent thought was "Where did Lily learn to sing like that?" James, however, was thinking something a little different... 


	9. More Thoughts, Sights, and Curious Quest...

******Liz Note: I know this took a while to get out. Although I told myself it was writer's block, it wasn't. I'm just lazy. It's the dog days of summer! Gimmie a break! I know this is a short one, but expect another chapter within a day! (Tomorrow morning!!)  
  
~~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~  
  
James was thinking about Lily's rear-end. Or, rather, what was on her rear- end.  
  
As Lily turned around to jump off her bed, it was finally seen by everyone. On the butt of her pyjama bottoms, in blue paint was a perfect handprint.  
  
Next to it was written: "J.P. was here". Everyone laughed and looked at James. He gave them a look that plainly read,  
  
"Don't tell her!"  
  
They all shut-up. Lily, who thought they'd been laughing at her singing, started bowing and curtseying, mouthing thank you and wiping and invisible tear from her eye, minding her invisible mascara.  
  
"That was great, Lily!" Suzie said, breaking the ice.  
  
"You really think so?" Lily asked, a pink tinge appearing on her cheeks.  
  
"Would I say it if I didn't mean it?"  
  
"No." Lily agreed. Their party went on almost the whole night, thanks to a never-ending supply of butterbeer and, for Lily, coffee. After talking for most of the night, and dawn hours, everyone fell asleep.  
  
The next afternoon, Lily awoke to a hilarious sight. Sirius was laying flat on his back in the middle of the floor, snoring and occasionally murmuring, "Heffulumps and Woozles...Damn them pretty bogies..." In his hand was a half-full bottle of butterbeer, and countless empty bottles littered the floor around his body.  
  
Peter was wrapped up in some red curtains which he had evidently gotten from Suzie's bed. 'He looks,' Lily thought, 'Like a stuffed sausage.' He even let out an occasional snort.  
  
Remus, it seemed, had enough sense to sleep in the window seat, where he had a throw pillow and blanket to sleep with. He was lying on his side, with his mouth wide open, drooling on the pillow. 'Hafta remember not to use that one.' Lily made a mental note to herself.  
  
Her eyes then went in search of the fourth and final boy that was in their dorm last night. He was nowhere to be seen in the room. Ever curious, Lily got up and went down to the common room to see if he slept on a comfortable couch or chaise lounge down there. He hadn't. Her quest then lead her to the boy's dorm. Not there, either.  
  
"Well," Lily said to herself, "You better go get dressed before you go gallivanting about the castle! You don't want anyone to see you wear the fashion faux * flannel * to bed, do you?!"  
  
So she went back up to the dorm, grabbed some clothes out of the wardrobe, and went into the bathroom. Lily was in her knickers when she turned to start the bath.  
  
And then, she screamed.  
  
~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~  
  
!!!Sneak Peek!!!  
  
In the next chapter you will see.  
  
- What caused Lily to scream bloody murder -- An, as always, goofy Sirius - And.. More with Lily's pyjamas!!  
  
Goofy host: Does anybody know what time it is?  
  
Audience: REVIEW TIME!  
  
Goofy host: That's right! And here's Liz "the Laugh girl" And Author! So, Liz, anything you want so say?  
  
Liz (that's me! ;o) : REVIEW!! I * live * for reviews!!! I'm addicted, and now starting to experience withdrawal! Don't kill me!!!! Have a heart. review. 


	10. What are friends for?

And here's the next chapter!  
  
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Yes, Lily screamed. Why? She was startled and frightened and.. Embarrassed?  
  
Indeed, embarrassed. There wasn't a monster in the tub, it was..  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"JAMES?!!" She shouted. James was curled up in a ball in the tub. He was sucking his thumb, and hugging a loofah (sp?) like a stuffed bear.  
  
"Uhh.. Just another hour, Mum.." He mumbled and turned over. Lily grabbed her towel, tied it round her, and stepped in the tub. She took great pleasure in kicking him while saying, "Get up you great prat!"  
  
James finally woke up. He reached into his chest pocket and put on his glasses. And then * he * screamed. James tried to get up, but the slanted floor of the tub made it impossible in socks. He brought himself up, nearly standing, and fell back down again, knocking Lily down and the tap down.  
  
Lily's fall brought down a bottle of bath bubbles, and little fizzies. James started laughing. It was at that moment, everyone else ran in. Their eyes met with a strange sight. It appeared to be Lily, in her knickers, and James, in his pyjamas, laughing, sitting in the tub together, taking a bubble bath.  
  
Sirius was in the front and the first to speak.  
  
"I'm guessing you can explain this strange, strange sight. I sure can't. I mean, if you're going to take a bubble bath together, at least lock the door. And for that matter, take off your clothes, James. You're never going to get a girl like * that *."  
  
Lily and James just laughed harder after Sirius had finished his little speech. They were laughing so hard they didn't hear their friend's comments on their relationship. Pretty soon, everyone joined in on the laugh. Though some had no idea what they were laughing at.  
  
After a good 10 minutes, the giggles and snorts had finally subsided and James once again started trying to get out of the tub. He realized his wet socks were doing him no good, and pulled them off. He was then able to, with the help of Remus, pull himself out, sopping wet. He slipped on Lily's pyjamas and fell flat on his butt. Sirius looked down to see what James had slipped on, and was shocked by what was lying on the floor. Lily's pyjamas. He picked up her shirt and held it by one finger for everyone to see. Lily went bright red and looked down at herself.  
  
"Thank goodness for the bubbles!" she said.  
  
"Are you wearing anything?" Suzie asked.  
  
"Suzie?! How could you say something like that?!! Of course I'm wearing something! My knickers! And some strategically placed bubbles!" Lily replied jokingly.  
  
"I'm not even going to ask." Serena said smiling. She walked out and was soon followed by Venus, Monica, Suzie, Cooper, Remus, Peter, and Sirius.  
  
Lily sunk deep into the safety of the bubbles.  
  
"Er..," James said, "Sorry, I guess. I don't really know what happened there.." That was James's way of asking the question thought by everyone, without really asking.  
  
"No, it was my fault. I woke up, and everyone was sleeping, but you weren't in the room. So I decided to go looking for you in the Common room and your dorm. I didn't think you'd be in the toilet, of all places. I was in my knickers, turned around to start the water, and there you were. In the tub. Sleeping." Lily said, explaining the strange event that had just unfolded.  
  
"Well it seemed like a good place at the time, you know, I'd had more than a couple butterbeers." James said slightly embarrassed  
  
"More like 'more than a couple cases of butterbeer'" Lily sniggered.  
  
"Well," James said giving Lily a playful evil eye, "I better be going. Who knows what those prats are thinking! Have to start 'damage control'" He said that last bit in perfect mimic of Professor McGonagall. Then he turned and headed out the door.  
  
"Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a giant baby when you sleep with washrags in tubs?"  
  
"Yes, I get that all the time." James said turning back and smiling.  
  
"Oh, and you suck your thumb, too. Did you know that?"  
  
"Lily---" James said, looking desperate "That last bit stays between you and me, okay?"  
  
"Sure." She said, "What are friends for!"  
  
~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~  
  
Review! 


	11. Thoughts of Incest?

LIZ NOTE!!!! (Please read) Okay. This is like, the first time I've updated in a year. And I'm sorry!!! I PROMISE I won't drag this out another year. My goal is to finish this by the time I leave to go to camp, which is around the same time the next book comes out. There are no guarantees, but the guarantee that I will try my hardest to meet my deadline.  
  
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~  
  
The next few weeks passed uneventfully, Lily wearing her handprint pyjamas in the common room several times. And it seemed everyone but her knew of the nice signature on her bottom.  
  
Lily wasn't the cleverest witch in the 7th year, she was the cleverest witch in the school. And being the clever witch she was, she was able to see that pretty much the entire school knew something that she didn't. It was the way their eyes flickered downwards as she passed. And the way people said Lily and James when they thought she couldn't hear anything. Lily was far from stupid-she knew something was up. And she was determined to find out what it was.  
  
James, meanwhile, had over the past three weeks been very studious and reserved. He was confused. Since he'd seen Lily dressed in only knickers and bubbles, he'd been very uncomfortable around her. His face heated up and he wasn't quite sure what to say. To cover up his strange behavior until he was able to sort through his brain of mush and find himself again, he tried his best to stay away from the common room and Lily.  
  
Lily's plan to finding out what everyone knew but her was first, to go to James, and if he didn't know, (him not telling was unthinkable) she would do some investigative work herself.  
  
"Hi James!" Lily said happily. She was planning to make casual conversation before she asked him what the big secret was.  
  
"Wha-oh, Lily, don't do that!" James looked quite comical as he jumped about a foot in the air after Lily surprised him.  
  
"Sorry, I couldn't resist." Lily said chuckling lightly. James was always so easy to scare, and the mouse-like noise he made when he was startled was always humoring. 'That's one of the things I love about James. Lily thought, he can always make me laugh..even when he's not trying to..'  
  
"Why is it that you've decided to interrupt my study session?" James asked, pretending to be perturbed. He was doing his best to not think of Lily in the tub. 'Think pure thoughts ... Think pure thoughts.' "Can't you see I'm trying to work here?!"  
  
"Work? Since when does James Potter work?! The very idea is laughable. In fact, I think I'll have a laugh right now." And so Lily went off into fits of laughter. (In the world of public speaking, you know, spontaneous, uncontrollable laughter is a sign of nervousness. But what has Lily to be nervous about?...)  
  
"Okay James," Lily started, her giggles quieting down after a group of studying Ravenclaws shot her dirty looks. "I need to ask you something. Have you noticed lately, how everyone but me seems to know something?"  
  
James knew, alright. The story of his handprint had made its way around the school completely. And the thing that surprised him was that people were taking it seriously. About ten guys had already told him how proud they were, it was "about time", and fifteen girls had asked him, very seriously, when the wedding was. He found it extremely embarrassing and it annoyed him to no end how tongue-tied he got as he was trying to explain it was all just a misunderstanding. Could people not take a joke?.  
  
"Uh.." He stammered out, "Sort of, I guess." James couldn't find it in him to lie, as he would have under normal circumstances. "Oh, good." Lily said, sounding relieved. James, too was relieved for a moment, thinking that was all Lily was going to ask, and he could escape before Lily realized to ask him if he knew why. But he was not so lucky.  
  
"I'm glad I'm not the only one. Do you happen to know what everyone's saying when my back is turned?"  
  
'Uh, yea. That you and I are active and willing participants in a more than friendly relationship.' He thought. But he couldn't very well say that, now could he.  
  
"Well, you see Lily.." James began, choosing his words carefully, but a loud crash and a whole shelf of books tumbling over interrupted him.  
  
"PEEVES!" Mme. Pince shouted.  
  
Everyone ran to the mess on the floor to see if anyone was hurt. James took the opportunity to slip away unnoticed, and hide in the safety of the boy's dorm.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~  
  
Lying in the middle of the floor, James, for the life of him, couldn't figure out how to tell Lily what everyone was saying about her-'wait, about us' --he corrected himself, when her back was turned. 'If this was last year, I'd have no problem telling her.' He thought. 'What's so different about now?'  
  
But he knew what was different about now. Where as last year the idea of him ever being with Lily in a more than platonic way was laughable.. Inconceivable, now.. Now it was only laughable he'd never taken the idea seriously before, and the situation was very, very conceivable.  
  
It was the day he woke up to Lily in noting but her knickers, smiling and laughing at him that he realized he wouldn't mind it too terribly much if that sort of thing happened every day. And James hated himself for thinking that.  
  
It was like incest!  
  
Yet.. Very appealing incest.  
  
~~ ~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ Thanks for reading. I'd really appreciate it if you'd review. The only thing that motivated me to write this chapter were the 6 month old reviews begging me to finish. So if you wanna see the next chappie, leave me a quick note telling me what u liked, and what u didn't like.  
  
SNEAK PREVIEW!!  
  
Lily manages to find the hiding James..  
  
We visit Hogsmeade..  
  
And some other stuff that will be a surprise! (haha) 


	12. Found!

~~~~Boy, did I not come through on my goal. It's been almost a year since I last updated this. But that won't happen again, because I hate it when people don't finish their stories, so I am definitely going to finish this. I'M SORRY! * * * * * * * * * * ****  
  
"Where the hell did James go?" Lily said confused. She had just been about to find out what had been driving her crazy the last few days when James...disappeared.  
  
"Was it something I said?" she thought, going over everything she'd said to James. And when she decided it was nothing she'd done, Lily thought, 'Maybe James didn't want to tell me what's being said.' And that thought made Lily think more. What could possibly be so bad that James wouldn't want to tell her? And where did he go?  
  
Lily went to investigate.  
  
**********  
  
Twenty minutes later, James was still wrestling with himself, trying to find a way to tell Lily that people thought they were 'together'. "What am I supposed to do?" he whispered to himself. "I can't tell Lily what I'm thinking—that'd be too embarrassing." James eliminated the choice from his hand by lowering his thumb. He had four fingers remaining.  
  
"I won't tell Lily what girls have been saying about weddings.....that's just weird."  
  
Another finger went down.  
  
"Writing it down would only make me feel stupider."  
  
His middle finger fell.  
  
"Memory charm.....too risky."  
  
Down went his ring finger.  
  
"That leaves.....ask Sirius. Oh, what have I gotten myself into?!!"  
  
But even though James had decided what he wanted to do, he wouldn't be able to. It was because at that moment Lily entered the room, looking a bit worried.  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
James decided to act casual. "Hey Lily." He said, still lying in the middle of the room staring up at the burning candles that, with the help of the sun, lit the room.  
  
"Hey James." Lily replied. "I came up here to—" "Wanna go to Hogsmeade?" James cut Lily off before she could finish her sentence.  
  
"Uh....." Lily thought for a second and decided that if she wanted to get an answer out of James she better go. And it did sound like fun. "Sure. Let's go."  
  
* * * * ** *** * James hopped up and grabbed his money, stopping to check his hair in the mirror and try to flatten it. At this, Lily couldn't stop a small laugh. "What's so funny?" James asked, pretending to be angry.  
  
"I just imagined you with normal hair." Lily replied, still giggling a bit.  
  
"I can't really see how that would be funny." James replied. He was starting to feel like himself again, bantering with Lily like always.  
  
"I can—you'd look like a....a very snobbish fox hunter."  
  
"I'm not even gonna ask." James said.  
  
~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~ ~  
  
I'm kinda tired, even though this isn't even two pages. Just review please. I'll work harder next chapter. 


	13. Leaves, Hair, and styleishness

And so they made their way through the passage, up through boxes of sweets and into Hogsmeade.

Conversation had been somewhat strained for James. And the backs of his knees were growing sweatier with every step. (James had inherited this strange trait from his mother, who showed her stress by soaking her nylons.)

Luckily, though, James was a quick thinker under stress (This more desirable trait he had also inherited from his mother, who had helped Dumbeldore in his fight against Grindewald.) and he had already formed a semi-plan.

"Let's go to The Three Broomsticks and have some butterbeer. I'm chilled," James said.

"Sounds delicious." Lily replied, her lips curving into a smile. Lily was a sucker for comfort foods, and butterbeer happened to be on her list.

They could hear the little bell jingling as a group of wizards exited from the glowing pub, immediately entering the neighboring stationary cottage. The crisp, brisk, autumn air swirled around Lily and James, making Lily's long hair flutter around her, blowing pleasantly onto her wind-blushed cheeks. Dried leaves twirled in cyclones created by the elegant curves of the Owl Post Office façade, and the only sound to be heard was the satisfying crunch following their harmonious footsteps. This was James' and Lily's favorite season. (Though neither had ever told the other.)

James grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open for Lily as they entered.

"Thanks" Lily muttered, out of habit.

Once inside, they silently migrated to the round table at the back where they sat quite often. The weather outside had acted as a kind of drug, making them soft-spoken and subdued.

"So," Lily began.

"I'll go get the butterbeers." James finished.

Lily watched him stand up and walk easily to the bar where he placed the order. She liked watching the way James moved. It was an oxymoron. How could a person move so lazily yet so purposefully? So proud yet so weak? So fast going away, yet so slow coming back? In her drugged state, his every motion occupied her mind wholly.

"It's hot." James said simply. He never warned her of anything. He only told her the facts.

The lids of Lily's doe-ish eyes closed with contentment as she drank from her frothy mug. She childishly wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her jacket, unembarrassed because she was with James.

"So," She began again, "what were you going to tell me in the library before Peeves knocked down that shelf?"

"Oh, yea," James said, stealing his thoughts away from Lily's quirky eyebrows that stopped just a bit too short, making them look like a painter's stray marks. "Well, I guess it's my fault in a wayâ€ You know those pyjamas you wear a lot? The ones with the bows and flowers?"

Lily nodded, a bit confused, but willing to let James take his own trail with it, as long as she found out what was being said about her.

"Wellâ€ the day we took the group picture, when I got your camera out of your trunk, I put a handprint on the bottom of them. You know, the bottom."

"Oh, that's it?" Lily said, relived "So people think I'm some kind of fashion diva now, huh. That is amusing. Amusing considering I'm not stylish at all—"

James interrupted "No, that's not it. I didn't just put a handprint. I also signed my initials. As a joke, obviously."

"So what does this have to do with what people are saying about me? Do they not think I'm stylish? Do they think I'm not stylish?"

* * *

So that's how this chapter ends. If you've enjoyed my story so far, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just quit writing. It took me an hour to write this, and it's not even a page!! 

REVIEW!


	14. This is werid

"No, stylishness is the last thing people are thinking about us." James said a bit frustrated with his inability to just get to the point.

"Us? Aren't we talking about my pyjamas?" Lily said, even more confused. "I'm lost."

"Because I put my initials on the bottom of your pyjamas people have been thinking that… geeze, this is really strange to say… people think that you and I…are more than platonic friends…"

Lily face still displayed bewilderment.

"They think that you and I are dating. Hugging. Kissing. Leaving initials on one another's sleeping clothes, like dogs marking their territory."

"Oh," Lily said lifelessly. But inside her head, fragments of thought, idea, and feelings were spinning uncontrollably. Since the middle of sixth year Lily had stopped denying to herself the fact that she liked James in that "more than platonic" way. She thought maybe, maybe he might feel the same way about her, but, oh! He was _upset _by the fact that people thought they were "together".

"Well, that's not so bad. I mean, who cares what they think as long as we know the truth? And no—" Lily answered James just as he was opening his mouth to pose the question.

"I don't blame you for this. I mean," here she giggled, "can't people take a joke? Honestly….." She picked up her butterbeer and took a big gulp.

"That's just what I was thinking." James said with a similar, forced laugh.

He too picked up his frothy mug to fill the pause. Stretching his legs, he accidentally nudged Lily's foot. Their heads snapped up to see one another blushing like mad.

"Uh," they both began. "This is weird." James finished.

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So this was totally short, and now I have writers block. Any ideas? And please review. I was actually re-reading some of the first chapters to get my story straight and they totally sucked! Suprised if anyone makes it to this chapter and actually reads this...

Liz


	15. A Message Fit for a Telegram

* * *

They continued staring at each other for quite some time. Both were unmoving and transfixed with wonder and private longing.

Finally Lily spoke, "I guess we better start back—don't want to miss supper."

"Yea." James agreed robotically.

Just as they had come, Lily and James walked back to the castle quietly. Being fall, the sun was already threatening to retire at only six. They made their way down the passage quickly, and for the first time in their lives felt awkward as James gave Lily a needed leg up to the passage opening into Hogwarts.

So tensely Lily strode into the Great Hall that her muscles went to jelly when she sat down next to Cooper, the farthest seat to be managed away from James.

"You feeling okay?" Cooper asked in a tender voice, "You look exhausted."

"I'm fine," Lily replied, her heart filling with love for her kind friend. "I'm just really tired. James and I went to Hogsmeade this afternoon."

"Good—didn't want you getting sick on us, the holiday season steadily approaches!"

Lily laughed a little and nodded her head, grabbing a yeast roll and daintily tearing off a piece. She thought of James. (Obviously)

Internally Lily was waging war with herself. 'If I was really a Gryffindor, I'd have the nerve to tell him I was glad to hear people think we're together.' She thought dejectedly.

'I am a Gryffindor. I'll have to get over my stupid fears and tell him.'

Thus Lily decided to write James a letter.

* * *

_James,_

_Tuesday, five, common room, second table from fire._

_Lily_

James read the note, heart sprouting wings, flying into his throat. He was uncharacteristically jittery all Monday and wound up only getting three hours sleep due to the sinusoidal waves of intense happiness and despair.

Sirius commented to James at breakfast on Tuesday, "Put that cinnamon bun back—you've had entirely too much sugar lately. I couldn't sleep with your jittery legs thumping on the broken spring in your mattress. Eat some eggs instead."

Not wanting to argue or be forced to explain the cause of his boundless energy, James complied, spooning three hearty helpings of egg onto his plate, which he ate in very small bites, very quickly.

Four seats down the table however, things were a little different. Instead of gorging herself as James was doing, Lily was pecking at her food like a bird. Her crepes weren't nearly as interesting as the plate below it.

And it was in this excruciating way the day passed.

* * *

sneak peek of next chapter:

"Did you ever know what the Sorting Hat said to me?"...

**_REVIEW!_**


	16. Lily the Great, General

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It was four forty and both Lily and James were in their dorms, lying on their beds, stomachs full of anticipation. Lily thumbed through her old journal from first year. It was there that she had written the precise words the Sorting Hat had whispered into her ear that amazing first night at Hogwarts seven long years ago…

"Hmmm…" the Hat said in its distinctive wooly voice, "you have every quality for every house…you're a special one. The one Dumbledore told me about."

"Well, if it's any help," Lily had thought, "I'd like to be in Gryffindor with my friends."

"Yes, yes. Gryffindor is the place for you. You should meet your true love in that house." "Really!" she had asked, with the strangest combination of feelings she'd ever experienced in her life up till then, and all time past, "Who!"

"Ah-eh-a… not telling. But you're a bright girl…you'll figure it out. GRYFFINDOR!"

But the part that still gave Lily the willies was the exchange between Sirius and James, moments later.

"What took so long?" Sirius had asked James.

"Oh," he'd answered, "Nothing much. Only Dumbledore told the hat something about my future and he was giving me hints."

Lily remembered her first reaction to the information that she and James shared a bond closer than that of casual schoolmates. Dumbledore had told the Sorting Hat about both of them. If it was somehow determined that she and James were intellectual equals, supposed to work as a team in life, and the idea was quite appealing to her, why fight it any longer?

Had she been paired with someone else, say, a Slytherin like Snape, "destiny" would have been immediately, unquestionably thwarted.

'After all,' Lily thought, feeling quite grown-up and independent 'this is my life—I am in the driver's seat.'

With this note of confidence and a surge of accomplishment already invading her veins from her absolute belief in an impending victory, Lily walked, head held high, classic Roman nose out, leading her way down into the common room at five past five.

* * *

Always prompt, James had arrived in the common room at exactly five seconds past five and quickly claimed his choice table in the corner near the fire. He sat with his back to the room, too distracted with his wild thoughts to be bothered with the scene of his schoolmates.

He was doing all he could to stop from switching his head—his tick. Where was she? Who was she kidding, being … (here he stopped to check his watch) two and a half minutes late? Was this some kind of joke? All these questions plagued his mind as he waited, ticking.

Finally, five minutes past five, Lily emerged from the girl's dorms, walking proudly down the spiral staircase, looking ridiculously like some kind of international diplomat.

She hurried around the various games of Exploding Snap and Gobstones to join James at the small rectangular table they usually resided at. His occasionally switched his head—his old tick had apparently returned. This, paired with his still elfish ears and still residing child-like freckles, made him look more the part of puppy than ever.

Lily internally giggled, remembering her birthday several years before.

"So," James began, "You wanted a word?"

"Yes. I'll get right to the point… don't want to go beating around the bush… last thing we need…"

"Good." James concurred.

"Okay, good. James, do you know what the Sorting Hat said to me first year, when I was sorted into Gryffindor?"

James began to answer no but Lily cut him off. Her question had apparently not meant to be answered.

"In addition to telling me I had every quality for every house, just as Dumbledore had previously informed it, it told me I truly belonged in Gryffindor because I chose it as the house I felt most affinity with and because of the people in Gryffindor. One of which is, as he put it, is meant to be, will become my love.—"

As Lily had done seven years earlier, James went a slight shade of green.

She continued, "Later during the feast, right after you were sorted, I heard Sirius asking you what took so long and you responded to him that Dumbledore'd told the Hat something about your future. At the time I logically thought that you must be the one the Hat was refering to when talking to me. I wished, though, that you weren't. Not because I didn't like you, but because…"

For the first time since she started her monologue, Lily paused, collecting her thoughts, emotions, and breath.

"You don't know how it is to live knowing something could possibly be inevitable! I continually asked myself if I should fight the feelings I had for you away, simply so I wouldn't be dominated by something outside myself. I put a temporary, though seven year stopper in the dilemma by deciding to be friends with you. I reasoned that people can be friends without romantic love. Being just friends with you didn't mean that I wasn't in control of the future of my life. It would quench my undeniable attraction to you without giving in to destiny or providence, or whatever it is that is causing this problem! But now I realize I was both right and wrong in my thinking. It is possible to be friends without being in love. There is an exception, though—you and me. It is impossible for me to be friends with you without being in love. So there it is—I really like you. So much in fact that I've decided to let my stupid obsession with remaining independent and in control of my life kick the bucket. If I'm indisputably drawn to you, and don't at all mind the idea of considering you an equal and teammate in all my endeavors, why keep the obsession? Why is not being in control a problem? Why does being with you equal not being in control? It doesn't. It feels so good to say it—I reckon I love you; I love everything about you, the way you walk, your elfish ears, and the things I don't like, well, they don't really seem to matter at all, do they? Inconsequential, trivial. I guess it's all out now. What do you think?" Lily breathed in deeply, there had been very few significant pauses in her speech.

James's previously green face was now somewhere paradoxically between stark white and very red. His eyes were wide, his mouth relaxed. He drew his breath as though he were going to deliver his own monologue.

"You know Lily," He said his heart, stomach, kidneys, kneecaps, everything overflowing with joy, "I've been waiting to tell you this for a while—I think your eyebrows are absolutely divine."

They both smiled.

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REVIEW! 


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